Nathaniel Hawthorne

The May-Pole Of Merry Mount - Original Edition Nathaniel Hawthorne

The story is an allegory for the social tension caused by the Puritans in early America. Endicott and his Puritan followers suppress freedom and individuality, a common theme for Hawthorne. At the beginning of the story "jollity" and "gloom" are said to be contending for an empire, the Merry Mount colonists personifying jollity or mirth and the Puritans being the emblems of gloom. Hawthorne satirizes both parties and the narrative point of view seems to oscillate between them.